A communications network typically includes a variety of communication nodes coupled by wireless or wired connections and accessed through different types of communications channels. Each of the communications nodes includes a protocol stack that processes the data transmitted and received over the communications channels. Depending on the type of communications system, the operation and configuration of the various communication nodes can differ and are often referred to by different names. For example, in a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), the various communication nodes include a radio network controller (RNC), a base station (node-B) and a mobile device such as a cellular telephone. In addition, each interface between the communication nodes can be represented by a protocol stack such as the Iub interface protocol stack between the RNC and node-B within a UMTS system.
In order for the protocol stack to correctly process data received over a channel, certain information about the channel is required. Some information about the channel, such as, virtual path identification (VPI), virtual channel identification (VCI) and channel identification (CID), can be obtained directly from the received data. This information is often obtained from headers associated with the received data.
Other types of channel information needed by the protocol stack to process the received data cannot be so easily obtained. Thus, during installation, this pre-provisioned channel information is manually input to each communications node for each associated channel. Manually inputting this needed channel information is time consuming especially when there are multiple associated channels.
Additionally, the channel information has to be updated whenever there are changes to the communications node or channels associated therewith. The changes necessitating an update of the channel information can result from equipment replacement due to an upgrade, failure, etc., or the addition of communications nodes and channels as the communications network grows. Quickly updating channel information is especially desired when a communications node fails and a portion of the communications system is down. This can be even more frustrating when equipment from another manufacturer is used to replace the failed equipment.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a system and method that provides automatic update of channel information to an associated communications node. More specifically, what is needed is a system or method that allows an automatic and fast update of channel information needed by a protocol stack to process received data.